2022 Round Up

Well the final days of 2022 has certainly been an interesting turn of events for me.

My mother and I decided to come to the US to visit our family for the festive period and upon arrival, on the 13th December, our first week was great.

The weather was gorgeous, sunny and warm, after the freezing temperatures we experienced in the UK and the snow and ice, and simply being back with my family and my nephews dog, Chance, was heavenly. My nephew was going to be away for Christmas and New Year so we celebrated an early Christmas with him, which I am so glad we did, in light of how things turned out for us over Christmas!

Usually, at this time of year, I am quite active on social media, posting my foodie pictures especially delicious festive dishes I have made however this year has been a little different, hence being a little quieter than usual.

My silence over the past week has purely been down to me having to take some much needed ‘enforced’ time out,

After having a wonderful first week here lapping up some much needed sun and Laguna Beach festive vibes, my sister and I were struck down with covid, first time for both of us.

How?

Throughout our time here we have been super careful to wear our masks outdoors as numbers of Covid are high in both LA and Laguna Brach.

However, on Wednesday 21 December my sister ‘treated me’ to a manicure and pedicure at a local spa. Only the workers (except 2 and the clients) were wearing masks and one of the workers who wasn’t wearing a mask, was the person who was giving us a neck and shoulder massage! So looking back I think this was COVID’s route in, first making its way through to my sister, where she experienced severe headache, dizziness, nauseous and vomiting and fever. 

On day 1 of her Covid journey, having tested positive straight away (mine was still negative at this point) I nursed her as she really became bed ridden and felt awful.

Day 2 I had to take her the ER (emergency room) as she was literally screaming in pain and had high fever. She was checked over and given a 5 day course of Covid medication and sent home. 

Once home I put her to bed and came down and had breakfast and lunch with my mum. I also had to take care of my nephews gorgeous golden doodle who has made this whole journey tolerable!

By late afternoon I started to feel heady and my body aching with a really weird metallic taste in my mouth. I decided to test myself again and it came up positive.  Arghhhhhhhh

My sister was already isolating upstairs in her bedroom and so I too isolated from my mum and communal areas and went to the confinements of my bedroom. Now when I say confinements as you can see from the pictures it could be a lot worse right!

My sister and I both had to be very careful as the last thing we wanted was my mum being exposed as she is 83 years young and suffers with COPD (lung condition).

So my Covid journey began with heavy head, lethargy, muscle ache all over especially my back (my weakest point) and has progressed through to what feels like a heavy cold with cough and runny nose. I too, have lost all sense of smell and taste, which for a chef and a food lover, is NOT a good thing!

So why am I telling you this?

What have I realised through this experience?

I hope that some of the information shared here with you will help you in times of need, should you catch covid, should you feel too tired to get up and cook or eat good food, or should you simply need some useful tips to re-energise yourself back to good health.

1. Diet is very important. What we put in our body will either aid or disable us.
   I strongly believe that enjoying a healthy and nutritious diet is what has gotten us through Covid without too much suffering and our body is healing much faster than expected. More than anything, it has given us ALL a chance to simply be…. Enjoy our own company, take time out from always doing doing doing and simply be in the moment, resting and not worrying so much about what is going on in the outer world.

   • Keep the food you eat light and nutritious (soups, salads, vegetables, fibre in ways of oats and bran)

   • Keep hydrated by drinking lots of water throughout the day

   • Top up with essential supplements to boost the immune system. Some of the top supplements that have been recommended to us is:
     Zinc, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Iodine (drops)

   • Drink warm water throughout the day, especially if you have a sore throat and/or cough. I have made some wonderful time saving lemon and ginger ice cubes, (simply by blending up some lemon and ginger and putting it in an ice cube tray & frozen) ready to pop out into a mug top up with hot water and sweetener of your choice.
     

2. Time for Healing. Covid has given us time to heal the body, mind and the gut. With not having much appetite, losing sense of taste and smell, this aides you into not eating as much as you may do therefore giving your gut time to heal and recharge as well as giving the mind time off from having to think what to make and eat!
   

3. Surplus Energy. I am on day 6 of having Covid and although I am weak and tired, I have just enough energy to look after myself, the dog, my sister, partly my mum, cooking and cleaning (essential areas only), continuously empty bins which takes a lot of effort up and down the stairs, walking and playing with Chance our pup who is a bundle of joy and very energetic yet very understanding loving and caring when my energy supply runs low.
   I feel if my diet wasn’t as clean as it was and is,  my recovery period would have been much longer and perhaps much worse and I wouldn’t have been able to do half as much as I need to do daily.
   

4. A little of what you fancy. I am enjoying bingeing on shows I have wanted to watch for a while but never had time to so now is certainly the perfect time to put my feet up and take some much needed time out to see out this virus and to see out the end of 2022!

So in summary, I have watched family and friends sharing their Christmas pictures of coming together and having fun and enjoying delicious festive meals online and the only thing I truly miss is good food which although I want it, I simply don’t have the appetite or taste for eating much!

So now the end of 2022 is near, I want to wish you again a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and wishing us ALL a very HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR FOR 2023.

Below is my summary of 2022 in pictures (places, people, events & food)!

2022 Summary